Jump to content

Where should a washing machine go?


RoseGoesToYale

Washing machine location  

131 members have voted

  1. 1. Where should a clothes washer and/or dryer go?

    • Kitchen
      16
    • Bathroom
      14
    • Separate room (i.e. laundry room, utility room)
      75
    • Its own small closet somewhere
      6
    • Bedroom
      1
    • Basement/Attic
      12
    • In an external building/shed
      1
    • COMMUNAL LAUNDRY FACILITIES!!
      6

This poll is closed to new votes


Recommended Posts

My parents have a laundry room.

At the two apartments of my own I've had back in Germany it was both times in my bathroom.

Now in the US, it's in its own small closet.

Hm... I'm way too conflicted to vote for any of those with any certainty 😕

Link to post
Share on other sites
FindingTheta

Can a dishwasher double up as a washing machine?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Where I live, washing machines are always housed in a laundry room or small cupboard or closet whenever possible, but for people in small houses or apartments which don't have such a room, it is usual to have it in the kitchen. I have always thought of this as a bit strange and illogical, because I think it is a bit unhygienic to wash your clothes in the same place as you prepare food. In many eastern European countries, it is more normal to have the washing machine in the bathroom, which I think makes much more sense - the bathroom is after all the room in which you take your clothes off; you don't usually get undressed in the kitchen!

Link to post
Share on other sites
firewallflower
49 minutes ago, FindingTheta said:

Can a dishwasher double up as a washing machine?

Hmm... well, technically, that's precisely what it is. ;)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Kitchen is where there is a space for the washing machine to go so that is where it went.

 

At home, we also have a dryer. This goes in the hallway as there is no other space for it

Link to post
Share on other sites

Kitchen.  That way Little Dog, who has his basket in the kitchen, can watch the clothes going round.  Kirsty Allsopp, a rather well off property expert here, caused outrage when she branded washing machines in the kitchen disgusting and then claimed she was joking when people were annoyed.  

Link to post
Share on other sites
Celyn: The Lutening
8 hours ago, Pan Ficto. (on hiatus?) said:

here in NZ we almost always have a separate little room called the laundry where the washing machine and dryer are housed, and it's usually beside the back door. No matter how poor you are or how tiny your house, there's almost always that separate little space for your laundry

Coming from Australia, this is the correct state of affairs.

Living in the UK, mine is in the kitchen, exactly where it shouldn't be.

I'm also on board with them going in the bathroom though.

I have never even seen a "basement" IRL.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Strange-quark

Flats: bathroom, or communal thingy in a block of flats (lowest floor). 

Houses: "laundry room" with other cleaning stuff, a sink etc. 

Love the comic but it's so... very... Scandinavian :P 

Link to post
Share on other sites
Anthracite_Impreza

Where else but the kitchen? We have two rooms downstairs, not counting the old coal bunker (which is now home to a Yamaha R1); there's literally nowhere else for it. Our kitchen is perfectly hygienic cos guess what? We don't throw dirty clothes all over.

Link to post
Share on other sites
8 hours ago, Gloomy said:

Whenever I've lived in a place that had a washer and dryer they were either in the garage or a small closet. My current apartment complex as well as the last complex I lived in both have communal laundry rooms where you have to pay to use them though.

If you put the washer in the garage where I live, the pipes would freeze and burst.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Soul Searcher
15 hours ago, Snao van der Cone said:

I wish my laundry machines were in my bathroom, but alas my bathroom is too small and they are in the kitchen instead. (In a special closet.)

My story exactly.

Link to post
Share on other sites
6 hours ago, Pan Ficto. (on hiatus?) said:
7 hours ago, Celyn said:

I have never even seen a "basement" IRL.

Now that I think about it, I've never seen a basement either :o

Where I grew up usually only a few commercial buildings had basements.

 

My current house has a "daylight basement". The house is built on a bit of a slope, so the basement is underground at the front, but at ground level at the back.

Link to post
Share on other sites
12 hours ago, Anthracite_Impreza said:

Where else but the kitchen? We have two rooms downstairs, not counting the old coal bunker (which is now home to a Yamaha R1); there's literally nowhere else for it. Our kitchen is perfectly hygienic cos guess what? We don't throw dirty clothes all over.

No no, the hygiene concern expressed before wasn't meant to suggest people must be dirty or anything, sorry if it came across that way!

 

Its was a cultural thing (I think?) where the kitchen is an area in our houses where food is processed (chicken chopped up, mince simmering, crumbs going everywhere, pastry being rolled in flour, dirty dishes waiting to be washed!) and that's ALL it's meant for in the vast majority of houses in our particular country or area or whatever. Overly paranoid people like myself don't want our clean washing near a food processing area, no matter how clean the area is kept! I know there's no actual real issue unless one actually doesn't clean their kitchen, but for some people not bought up with that kind of set-up it just seems so different :o It's the protection of the washing we were expressing concern for though, not the food! (even though of course as you know theres no real concern, it's just what we are used to!)

 

It's these little differences that make things interesting if you ask me. Someone who grew up with a washing machine (and maybe even dryer!) in the kitchen will just see that as absolutely normal whereas others (like myself) can't even imagine what that would be like!

 

I have no idea how us Kiwis ended up with the preference for a washing machine to have its own little room, but I lived in a one bedroom single-story house (just bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom, with a little living area) and the washing machine STILL had it's own little space by the back door even though the bathroom would have been big enough for the washing machine taps to go there and the back door was quite far away from the water tank. But nope, it's just this thing we have where the washing machine and dryer MUST have their own little space, even if it means taking room away from another area of the house if it's a super little house, haha. My back door was actually built on at a really weird angle (almost looking into the bathroom window)  just so they could squish the little room into the space for the washing machine, haha.

 

But yeah sorry if it came across like we were suggesting people must leave dirty washing around or whatever, it was the washing itself we would be concerned about if we had the same set-up! (though in saying that, what would happen if you're super busy and don't have time to get to washing until the weekends? Where does the washing go while it waits to be washed?) :o

Link to post
Share on other sites
14 minutes ago, Pan Ficto. (on hiatus?) said:

I have no idea how us Kiwis ended up with the preference for a washing machine to have its own little room, but I lived in a one bedroom single-story house (just bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom, with a little living area) and the washing machine STILL had it's own little space by the back door even though the bathroom would have been big enough for the washing machine taps to go there and the back door was quite far away from the water tank. But nope, it's just this thing we have where the washing machine and dryer MUST have their own little space, even if it means taking room away from another area of the house if it's a super little house, haha. My back door was actually built on at a really weird angle (almost looking into the bathroom window)  just so they could squish the little room into the space for the washing machine, haha.

I think a lot of it has to do with when the housing was built. Countries like NZ/Australia/Canada/US had a lot of their urban development after laundry machines became available to the average person, which made them a part of how we perceive the typical home.

Link to post
Share on other sites
4 minutes ago, Snao van der Cone said:

I think a lot of it has to do with when the housing was built. Countries like NZ/Australia/Canada/US had a lot of their urban development after laundry machines became available to the average person, which made them a part of how we perceive the typical home.

Many of the homes I've lived in were built prior to people actually owning washing machines :o They often even have a falling-down section in the yard with a small tub in, and that was where some poor woman had to stand doing washing by hand as late as 40-50 years ago!! The house I grew up in was built long before they could have owned a washing machine (there are many, many houses like that here in NZ because the average person didn't have access to proper washing machines until like the 60s- 70s+ due to import costs) yet the area by the back door in my childhood home had still been 'converted' at some point so the washing machine and dryer could go there, despite the fact that machines like that weren't available in any capacity when the home was built. But the one-bedroom apartment thing I lived in was built much more recently (within the past 20 years I'd say) and still had a little place squished in by the backdoor for the washing machine. It's like the backdoor/separate room thing has just always been something, even before anyone would have been capable of owning a machine due to import costs. Same with my current home which I shared an image of. This home has the little falling down shed which was the old wash-house, and the backdoor area has been converted into a space for the washing machine (which takes space out of the kitchen, but they still made a separate room instead of just sticking the damn thing in the kitchen which spatially would be a lot more practical!)

 

Anyway what I'm getting at is that the laundry room has still always been perceived as a 'separate' thing here, regardless of whether or not one owned a machine when the home was first built. I suppose during the industrial age in Britain (but prior to actual machines) people would have done the washing in a copper over the kitchen stove? I know for a time there even the bath was in the kitchen (due to people only having one tap in their home or whatever).. so maybe that's how in the UK especially, the idea that the washing machine goes in the kitchen developed culturally? And that was carried through with settlers to some places in America, but doesn't seem to have made it to NZ or Australia! and we were much later aboard the washing machine train too so that may have something to do with it.

 

Who would have thought I'd end up spending my Saturday morning contemplating laundry room placement? lol

 

 

 

Link to post
Share on other sites
8 hours ago, daveb said:

Where I grew up usually only a few commercial buildings had basements.

 

My current house has a "daylight basement". The house is built on a bit of a slope, so the basement is underground at the front, but at ground level at the back.

Every time I hear the word 'basement' I think of Fred West and it makes me very grateful that they're very rare here! 😛 

Link to post
Share on other sites
Anthracite_Impreza
5 hours ago, Pan Ficto. (on hiatus?) said:

Where does the washing go while it waits to be washed?

The clothes basket, which in our house is in the spare bedroom (cos we get undressed upstairs, thus, practical). We only wash clothes at most once a week; there's only two of us here so that's where 'dirty' (lets face it, they're not really dirty after two wears) clothes spend most of their life. My railway clothes have a separate bag cos they really are dirty, which is actually in the kitchen cos I'm not allowed to traipse through the house with them.

 

Our kitchen is a fair size tbh, most of it is empty now we don't have a table (my dad eats breakfast on a large toolbox cos that's how we roll). There's another toolbox next to the boiler, which I'm sure is odd to most people but I'm used to hoover (my dad fixes Dysons), car and bike parts, even actual (motor)bikes in the kitchen, so yeah. Clutch's servicing bits and Blitz's new radio are currently stowed on the kitchen floor.

Link to post
Share on other sites
banana monkey
On 8/22/2019 at 11:35 PM, Evren said:

Do you put the dryer in the kitchen too? 

Its reasonably rare to have a dryer in the UK several houses dont.  - we just dry clothes on the line or an airer. However, when you do its either in the kitchen or in wherever it will go. (ie I have seen 2 houses where they are in the garage due to lack of space in the kitchen). In the UK we also have what we call washer dryers. These are one machine which both wash and dry the clothes so if you dont have room in your kitchen for both and need a machine to dry things you often buy one of those in order to eradicate the issue. 

 

I find it interesting how much culture plays into these things. There are many posts saying the washer in the kitchen is wrong, for valid reasons. However, its so common in the uk that every person has seen it that way since they were a small baby and thus no-one thinks anything wrong with it. In fact, if it wasnt there you would think it strange and be asking if/where the utility room was! 

 

 

Link to post
Share on other sites
49 minutes ago, banana monkey said:

Its reasonably rare to have a dryer in the UK several houses dont.  - we just dry clothes on the line or an airer. However, when you do its either in the kitchen or in wherever it will go. (ie I have seen 2 houses where they are in the garage due to lack of space in the kitchen). In the UK we also have what we call washer dryers. These are one machine which both wash and dry the clothes so if you dont have room in your kitchen for both and need a machine to dry things you often buy one of those in order to eradicate the issue. 

 

I find it interesting how much culture plays into these things. There are many posts saying the washer in the kitchen is wrong, for valid reasons. However, its so common in the uk that every person has seen it that way since they were a small baby and thus no-one thinks anything wrong with it. In fact, if it wasnt there you would think it strange and be asking if/where the utility room was! 

 

 

Thank you for explaining, now I have more questions lol. What is an airer? I have never heard of that before. Also are Washer Dryers literally one machine that finishes washing and then switches to drying or are they like this.

Image result for washer dryer combo

Link to post
Share on other sites
banana monkey
19 hours ago, Evren said:

Thank you for explaining, now I have more questions lol. What is an airer? I have never heard of that before. Also are Washer Dryers literally one machine that finishes washing and then switches to drying or are they like this.

Image result for washer dryer combo

Unfortunately I cant see the image so cant really answer your question. (My browser blocks images from aven). However, I think in some washer dryers you can either select a cycle which switches from washing to drying as you describe (most models do this) or you can select a washing cycle and then later a drying cycle (my ex used to do this with his as he had many clothes that could not be in a dryer). An airer is a frame like thing that you hang clothes on to dry inside. Otherwise known as a clothes airer. https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrP4nbky2JdPDQAkRgM34lQ;_ylu=X3oDMTByMnE1MzMwBGNvbG8DaXIyBHBvcwMzBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--/RV=2/RE=1566784613/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fwww.wilko.com%2fen-uk%2fhome%2fhousehold%2flaundry-ironing%2fclothes-airers-dryers%2fc%2f374/RK=2/RS=CVaAIcw01.8TatHxI3IOsEMDH1k-

Link to post
Share on other sites

Oh cool :). I've seen airers in movies from the 70s but I didn't know anyone still used them today. The picture is of a small washer stacked on a dryer. 

Link to post
Share on other sites
23 minutes ago, Evren said:

Oh cool :). I've seen airers in movies from the 70s but I didn't know anyone still used them today.

I still use a couple of them, along with a clothesline on the back porch, when the air is dry enough.  In the USA, they are usually called "drying racks".   There are also drying racks on pullies that can be lowered from the ceiling to hang clothes, then lifted back up for the clothes to dry.  They are common in the USA Southwest on a back porch or in the garage. Like this:

drying-rack.jpg

 

There are also washer/dryer combos available in the USA, though they are hard to find, and they are expensive.  Since a single combo machine usually costs more than a separate washer and dryer, they are usually used only where there's no space for even a stacked washer and dryer.  You can see one here:

https://www.lg.com/us/washer-dryer-combos/lg-WM3488HW-front-load-washer

Link to post
Share on other sites

Basement. By default, to me, whatever room they're in becomes the 'laundry room', but every house I've lived in and most I've been in have had them in the basement.

 

Obviously not in apartments. Those seem to get stuck in the hallway, typically.

Link to post
Share on other sites
HonoraryJedi

Depends on space, I suppose. If you have a the space in your house for the washing machine to have its own room (parents house have it in the basement, and we hang the clothes to dry there as well), it makes sense to have a separate room. If that isn't practical based on the layout, then I feel bathroom makes the most sense.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I have an airer too, use it for small stuff, socks, underwear, t-shirts that I wear under my workshirt

Link to post
Share on other sites

I live in a house that has three floors in it. Well one of the floors is actually a basement but we just use it as a regular floor. In that floor/basement we have a separate space/room that has a sauna, a shower, a washing machine and a dryer in it. 

Link to post
Share on other sites
On 8/23/2019 at 5:22 AM, Pan Ficto. (on hiatus?) said:

Now that I think about it, I've never seen a basement either :o

Where I live, most buildings have basements- both houses, apartment complexes, dorms, etc., and businesses, schools, and the like.  They actually improve energy efficiency in heating and cooling, since temperatures are more stable underground.

Link to post
Share on other sites
8 hours ago, iff said:

I have an airer too, use it for small stuff, socks, underwear, t-shirts that I wear under my workshirt

My family has one for things like bras and wool socks, and I use the rail in my closet as a drying rack. 

On a related note, one of the very few chores my dad didn't help out with when I was growing up was the laundry.  This was because my mother banned him from doing so after he ruined some of her bras by tumble-drying them.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Most places I have lived the bathrooms haven't been big enough to house a washer, much less washer and dryer (not even the kind that stack). At least not the standard size ones we generally have in the US.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...